Scene Report: Electronic Music

The artists who will dominate Portland dance floors in 2014.

Portland’s indie-rock and folk scenes outshine most other
cities’. This is a universally accepted truth, and something that has
made electronic music a second-class scene. That’s not for want of
trying: While the scene is fledgling and underappreciated, these trials
have produced some serious dance-floor innovation. Through productivity,
independence, versatility and enigma, Portland’s electronic community
is set for an explosion in 2014, and these artists will be at the flash
point.

Nearly every Sunday in 2013, Cory Haynes, founder of Internet label STYLSS,
has compiled a Soundcloud playlist of ambient, alt-trap, bass and house
tracks. He applies the same diligence and hard work to his performances
as Quarry. In 2012, Quarry played prestigious bass party Low End
Theory in San Francisco, and as far as I can tell he hasn’t stopped
working since. There’s been a thundering, stuttering Quarry single on
each of STYLSS’s 11 label compilations, beginning in February 2013. I
won’t even delve into his collaborations with Tyler Tastemaker as Most
Custom. If he keeps up this pace, I’m not sure who will have a bigger
2014, the STYLSS team as a whole or its hyperproductive figurehead.

Portland has enough
raucous soul nights to steam-power the whole city, and Beyondadoubt’s
I’ve Got a Hole in My Soul is the best. So it’s easy to forget that Beyonda
is the woman who brought New Orleans bounce to the West Coast, and that
she’s a resident at Ecstasy and released her first single in 2013.
“9inch Heels,” with spooky and sexy vocals from London’s Niyi, refits
bounce’s harsh thwaps with an old-school Chicago house beat. It’s out of
left field, but not out of Beyonda’s range. She’s the most versatile DJ
in town, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more releases from her in
2014 with an even greater variety of styles.

Most artists wouldn’t catch much hype from just two officially released tracks in a year, but Philip Grass is different. One appeared on Dropping Gems’ Gem Drops Three,
and the other on Blankstairs, a newborn Portland net label focused on
pushing the electronic envelope, which included Grass’ “Can I Talk to
U,” a soulful cut dipped in a warm oil bath, on its freshman compilation
release. On their Soundcloud, another seven even more forward-thinking
tracks stand alone, in Grass’ often bassy, jazzy corner. In the coming
year, catch Grass live or online, but forget about catching them on a
label.

Pretty much all anyone knows about Vektroid—who
has released atmosphere-free, post-whatever e-albums under names like
Macintosh Plus, Laserdisc Visions, PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises, Fuji
Grid TV, Dstnt and others—is that she’s from Portland and she’s a key
player in the so-called “vaporwave” movement, a softcore, pitch-shifted,
chopped-and-screwed ’80s Muzak revival. Her entire persona seems
designed to confuse and amaze the investigative music journalist or avid
fan, and while it doesn’t always work, when it does, the enigma not
only deepens the listening experience but grants a broader license for
experimentation, something Vektroid will continue to do in 2014.